The Horse In Focus

The Horse In Focus It is all about the horse! OK it is all about the horse and photography. We offer workshops and photo tours. Stay tuned for upcoming trips!

Instead of asking, “What am I worth?” try asking better questions.What does this actually cost me to provide? How much t...
09/06/2026

Instead of asking, “What am I worth?” try asking better questions.

What does this actually cost me to provide? How much time does it require? What does my business need to earn? What problem am I solving for the client? What does my experience allow me to do that someone with less experience cannot? Is there enough demand at this price? Am I even selling it to the right people?

Those questions may not fit nicely on an inspirational graphic.

But they can actually help you build a business.

Your price is a number you should be able to explain, evaluate and change when the business or market changes.

Your worth as a person was never supposed to be part of the calculation.

A client can love your photography and still decide you’re too expensive.That doesn’t automatically mean they “don’t val...
09/05/2026

A client can love your photography and still decide you’re too expensive.

That doesn’t automatically mean they “don’t value photography.”

Maybe they don’t have the budget. Maybe they value something else more. Maybe they don’t need what you’re offering. Maybe they’re simply not your client.

One of the problems with tying pricing to “knowing your worth” is that every no starts to feel like a judgment.

It isn’t.

A sustainable photography business doesn’t need everyone to say yes. It needs enough of the right people to say yes at a price that makes the business profitable.

That’s a very different conversation than whether someone thinks you’re “worth it,” because you as a person were never part of the equation.

YOUR WORTH IS MORE THAN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY.

Your photography has a price. Your work has value. Your worth is bigger than both.

“Charge what you’re worth.”It might be some of the worst business advice photographers keep giving each other.It sounds ...
09/01/2026

“Charge what you’re worth.”

It might be some of the worst business advice photographers keep giving each other.

It sounds empowering. It sounds like we’re encouraging photographers to value their work and stop competing on price. But it also ties two things together that have absolutely nothing to do with each other: your personal worth and the price someone is willing to pay for your photography.

Your prices can be too high. They can be too low. They can be completely wrong for the market you’re trying to serve.

None of those things changes your worth.

Pricing is a business decision. It should be based on costs, market, demand, capacity, positioning and the value you create for the client — not how much you believe you deserve to be paid.

The new article on The Horse In Focus takes apart “charge what you’re worth” and looks at what photographers should be thinking about instead.

Why “Charge What You’re Worth” Is Terrible Advice

https://thehorseinfocus.com/?p=862

Here's one of the harder lessons in commercial photography:Your favorite photograph doesn't automatically win.You may lo...
08/30/2026

Here's one of the harder lessons in commercial photography:

Your favorite photograph doesn't automatically win.

You may love the dramatic light, unusual crop or beautiful composition. Your client may choose the photograph with more negative space, clearer branding or a better view of the product.

And they may be right.

They're not necessarily choosing the best photograph for your portfolio. They're choosing the photograph that works best for their business.

Our job isn't to stop being creative when someone hires us.

It's to take all of that creativity, experience and technical knowledge and use it to solve the problem they hired us to solve.

Sometimes the most creative part of the assignment isn't making whatever you want.

It's figuring out how to make something great within the boundaries of what the client actually needs.

Photographers love starting with the camera.What lens should I use? What aperture? Where should I put the lights? What s...
08/29/2026

Photographers love starting with the camera.

What lens should I use? What aperture? Where should I put the lights? What settings will give me that look?

Those are important questions—but they're not the first questions.

If I'm photographing a sale horse, accuracy matters. If I'm creating an advertisement, I need to know what the client is trying to communicate. If I'm documenting a horse show, I need to understand which moments matter. If I'm creating for myself, I may be perfectly happy throwing half those rules out the window.

The camera can't tell you which one you're doing.

That's the photographer's job.

Technical skill teaches you how to make the photograph.

Understanding the assignment tells you which photograph you need to make.

Before you pick up the camera, there is one question that probably matters more than what lens you're using:What is this...
08/25/2026

Before you pick up the camera, there is one question that probably matters more than what lens you're using:

What is this photograph supposed to do?

Are you documenting what happened? Creating something for a marketing campaign? Accurately representing a horse? Solving a commercial client's problem? Or making something simply because you have an idea you want to explore?

Those aren't the same assignments.

And if you don't understand the job the photograph needs to perform, you can create an absolutely beautiful image that still doesn't give the client what they needed.

This week's Equine Photographers Podcast Field Notes is about understanding the assignment—and why being a better photographer sometimes has less to do with the camera and more to do with knowing why you're making the photograph in the first place.

What Job Is the Photograph Supposed to Do?

Listen here: https://thehorseinfocus.com/?p=872

One of the most interesting things about the recent discussions surrounding horse show photography isn't who people agre...
08/23/2026

One of the most interesting things about the recent discussions surrounding horse show photography isn't who people agree with.

It's who they're directing their frustration toward.

If an organization establishes a media policy, should the official photographer be expected to defend it? Or should organizations take ownership of communicating the policies they create?

Those are two very different responsibilities.

Sometimes changing the question changes the entire conversation.

Sometimes the biggest misunderstandings come from asking the wrong question.Instead of asking why an official photograph...
08/22/2026

Sometimes the biggest misunderstandings come from asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking why an official photographer has a particular policy, perhaps we should first ask whether it was ever their policy to begin with.

That's the topic of this week's article.

Every time a horse show photography policy hits social media, the same thing seems to happen.The official photographer g...
08/18/2026

Every time a horse show photography policy hits social media, the same thing seems to happen.

The official photographer gets blamed.

They’re accused of trying to control who can take pictures, protecting their territory, keeping parents from capturing memories, or creating rules designed to eliminate competition.

Except there’s one fairly important problem with that argument:

The official photographer often didn’t make the rules.

Photography and media policies are typically organizational policies. The official photographer may work under them. They may have input into them. They may even be the person exhibitors encounter when a problem arises.

But being the face of a policy doesn’t necessarily mean being the person who created it.

And if we’re directing all of our frustration toward the wrong person, we’re probably having the wrong conversation.

This week on The Horse In Focus: The Official Photographer Didn’t Make the Rules

Read the full article:
https://thehorseinfocus.com/?p=853

Even great photographers take bad jobs.Talent isn't usually the problem.Most photographers spend years learning light, t...
08/09/2026

Even great photographers take bad jobs.

Talent isn't usually the problem.

Most photographers spend years learning light, timing, composition, and editing. Much less time is spent learning how to evaluate opportunities, recognize red flags, or understand which clients and horse shows are the right fit for their business.

Building a successful photography business requires both skill behind the camera and good business judgment.

One without the other only gets you so far.

What's one business lesson you've learned that had nothing to do with your camera?

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